Parents Of Driver Killed While Texting Publish His Interrupted Final Message

Copyranter is calling this "more powerful than the usual violent, bloody images created by big fancy ad agencies."

The police report says Heit, a Northern Colorado student, drifted into oncoming traffic, jerked the steering wheel and went off the road, rolling his car. Witnesses told police that Heit appeared to have his head down when he began drifting into the oncoming lane in the outskirts of Greeley, where the University of Northern Colorado is located. An oncoming driver slowed and moved over just before Heit looked up and jerked the steering wheel. Police said Heit had a spotless driving record and wasn't speeding. Heit died shortly after the crash, but his parents released the photo of his last text hoping it will stop future accidents. "In a split second you could ruin your future, injure or kill others, and tear a hole in the heart of everyone who loves you," Sharon Heit, Alexander's mother, said.

Loose Cabin Seats Forces American Airlines To Cancel Dozens Of Flights

American Airlines has cancelled about 100 flights while they check their aircraft for more loose seats.

Airline officials said late Thursday that they had come up with a fix for the seats, and they began pulling 48 Boeing 757s out of service to make repairs. All the planes should be back in service by Saturday. The seat repairs, however, could inconvenience thousands of passengers. American said the work caused it to cancel 50 flights on Thursday and 44 on Friday. Each 757 that American operates in the U.S. has 188 seats. Since last week, seats have come loose on three American Airlines flights involving 757s that had been recently refurbished. The seats had been removed and reinstalled as part of the work. Federal officials said they are continuing a safety investigation into the events at the nation's third-biggest airline. American originally said the problem was due to a clamp that holds rows of seats to tracks on the aircraft floor. But officials offered a new explanation Thursday, saying that a combination of wear, poor design and even soda spilled into the tracks caused pins to pop out of the grooves.

Luxury Cars Fail New Crash Test

Many of the most expensive luxury cars have failed a new crash test sponsored by the Insurance Institute. The new test examines the results of front-corner crashes, one of the most common angles of crashes in two-way traffic.

Most midsize luxury cars — including the Mercedes-Benz C-Class — performed poorly in a new frontal crash test developed by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. [snip] Good scores are also frequently touted in car ads. Of the 11 cars tested, only the Acura TL, Volvo S60 and Infiniti G earned good or acceptable ratings from the institute, which is funded by insurers. Four cars — the Acura TSX, BMW 3 Series, Lincoln MKZ and Volkswagen CC — earned marginal ratings. Four others — the Mercedes C-Class, Lexus IS 250, Audi A4 and Lexus ES 350 — earned poor ratings. Marginal or poor ratings indicate the cars wouldn’t protect occupants very well in a real-world crash.

The results indicate that airbags are largely ineffective in angled crashes and that seat belts unspooled enough to allow dummies to slam forward into the dashboard and windshield. Mercedes has denounced the study, but Toyota says it will incorporate the new data into future designs.

Portable Airbag

This is an actual thing for bicyclists.

The airbag is shaped like a hood that surrounds your head. It's made in an ultra-strong nylon fabric that won't rip when scraped against asphalt. The way the hood is designed and folded into the collar ensures that it will inflate quickly and safely. It takes about 0.1 seconds to inflate and the airbag will be fully inflated before head impact. Hövding protects nearly all of the head while leaving the field of vision open. The airbag provides soft and effective shock absorption and maintains constant pressure for several seconds, making it able to withstand several impacts to the head in the same accident.

Before it inflates, it looks rather like a neck brace.

NEW YORK CITY: Subway Officials Consider Barriers To Stop Jumpers

New York City's MTA is considering installing a system of sliding subway platform doors as the number of deaths and injuries from suicide attempts and falls continues to rise. Ninety people were struck by subway trains in 2009, resulting in 40 deaths. The proposed barrier/door system would be similar to that used by the JFK Airtrain, seen above.

NYC Transit has drafted a two-page list of requirements for the platform-edge barriers in what is called a "Request for Information" that is due back from manufacturers in March. It asks companies interested in the project to describe their qualifications and how they might proceed if selected. Proponents say the door would do more than just help protect passengers - it would also help reduce the number of lawsuits and the million-dollar payouts the agency faces each year. Another added benefit: The doors would prevent trash from being tossed or blown onto the tracks. Hundreds of trains are delayed each month by small fires ignited by sparks from trains and the electrified third rail.

Costs would surely run into the several billions at least, were the change made system-wide at MTA's hundreds of stations. The beleaguered agency is already facing a stiff budget deficit.

Safe Sex

Spain's hookers are required to wear reflective safety vests when they work in traffic. No vest = 40 Euro fine.

California Considers License Plate Ads

In a desperation move to shore up the state budget, California lawmakers are considering a bill that authorizes a feasibility study on digital advertising on license plates.

In addition to being a moneymaker, the high-tech plates also could be used to streamline automobile registration procedures and to quickly tell motorists about hazardous road conditions and Amber Alerts, officials suggest. Critics warn, however, that the ads would distract drivers and add to a growing clutter of roadside digital billboards, freeway message boards and other intrusive signage. Some also fear that the computerized equipment that would control the advertising could be hacked and hijacked by vandals intent on posting rogue messages. Backers of the advertising idea say the digital plates could be programmed to display the ads only after an auto has been stopped for four seconds. The car's license plate number would be visible in small type at the corner of the plate when ads are being displayed, they say. The ads would disappear and the plate numbers would be shown when the car was moving.

Schwarzenegger has promised to veto the bill.

NYC Declares Balconies Unsafe At 16 Buildings After Deadly Fall

Following the death of a Manhattan man after the railing on his 24th floor balcony gave way, NYC has banned residents at 16 buildings from using their balconies.

Inspectors have also found that about 800 building owners have failed to file inspection reports, required every five years, demonstrating the safety of their balconies and terraces. Teams have been conducting street-level examinations, with inspectors and engineers peering up at balconies with binoculars and entering buildings for physical inspections. They have found loose railings, crumbing concrete and unsecured railing posts. “Our inspectors and engineers have visited more than 530 buildings across the city to determine whether the property owners maintained the exterior of their buildings, including balconies,” said Tony Sclafani, the chief spokesman for the Department of Buildings. The enforcement effort is one of the most sweeping on balcony safety in years, and city officials said it was in its early stages.

And this being NYC, residents at the affected buildings seem more worried about their apartments' resale values than falling dozens of stories to a grisly death.

Volvo Safety Demonstration Fail

When you invite a bunch of journalists to witness your new automatic collision prevention braking system, you should probably have the bugs worked out first.

In Case Of Zombies

In the event of a zombie attack during your sleep, the Safe Bedside Table quickly disassembles into a medieval-ish club and shield. Get yours here.

And When You Flip The Car, The iPad Screen Conveniently Auto-Rotates

Somebody's already mounted their iPad on their dashboard.

Heads-Up On West 28th

Five years ago, when NYC's Eagle opened on West 28th in Chelsea, it was a lonely walk down a crack-head strewn sidewalk to reach the Eagle's front door. Today W.28th is the epicenter of Manhattan nightlife, with a dozen or more major nightclubs popping up in the area over the last few years.

With all that traffic comes a lot more safety, and I've been glad at times to have a dozen security guards eyeballing me from behind their velvet ropes as I head to the end of the block. However, for those visiting the Eagle in traditional leather bar garb, taunts and insults sometimes occur. Yesterday I heard about an incident involving limo drivers waiting outside of mega-titty bar Scores, who verbally assaulted two chaps-wearing guys leaving the Eagle. Things never got past name-calling and staffers at the Eagle have told me that Scores is a great neighbor and that their security has occasionally helped them out. Still, keep your heads up on West 28th.